Beverley Marian McLachlin (born September 7, 1943) is a Canadian jurist and author who served as the 17th
chief justice of Canada
The chief justice of Canada (french: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court sy ...
from 2000 to 2017. She is the longest-serving chief justice in Canadian history and the first woman to hold the position.
In July 2018, McLachlin began a three-year term as a non-permanent judge on the
Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA or CFA) is the final appellate court of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997, upon the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, replacing the Judicial Committee of t ...
, the first Canadian jurist nominated to the post. She was re-appointed for a second three-year term in 2021.
Early life and education
McLachlin was born Beverley Gietz in
Pincher Creek
Pincher Creek is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It is located immediately east of the Canadian Rockies, west of Lethbridge and south of Calgary.
History
For centuries before European settlers reached this area and inhabited it, Indigen ...
, Alberta, the eldest child of Eleanora Marian (née Kruschell) and Ernest Gietz. Her parents, who were of German descent, were "
fundamentalist Christians
Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...
" of the
Pentecostal Church
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement . She received a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
and an
M.A.
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
as well as an
LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree (winning the gold medal as top student, and serving as notes editor of the ''
Alberta Law Review
The ''Alberta Law Review'' is a peer-reviewed law review or legal journal, published quarterly by the Alberta Law Review Society. The Society is a non-profit organization consisting entirely of students from both the University of Alberta Faculty ...
'') from the
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...
. She was called to the
bar of Alberta in 1969, and to the
Bar of British Columbia in 1971. McLachlin practised law from 1969 until 1975. From 1974 to 1981, she was a professor at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
.
McLachlin has one son, Angus (born 1976), from her first
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
to Roderick McLachlin, who took care of much of Angus's upbringing.
Roderick McLachlin died of cancer in 1988, a few days after she was appointed chief justice of the B.C. Supreme Court.
[ In 1992, McLachlin married Frank McArdle, a lawyer and the executive director of the Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association.][
]
Judicial career
Canada
In April 1981, McLachlin was appointed to the County Court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...
of Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
. Five months later, in September 1981, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia
Supreme may refer to:
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* Supreme (character), a comic book superhero
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* The Supremes, Motown-e ...
. In December 1985, McLachlin was appointed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal
The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) is the highest appellate court in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1910 following the 1907 Court of Appeal Act.
The BCCA hears appeals from the Supreme Court of Britis ...
. In September 1988, McLachlin was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She was nominated by Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.
Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...
to be made a puisne justice to the Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
on March 30, 1989.[ On the advice of ]Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.
Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...
, McLachlin was appointed the chief justice of Canada on January 7, 2000.
Upon being sworn into the Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
, she also became a deputy of the Governor General of Canada A Deputy of the Governor General (french: Gouverneur général suppléant) is, per the ''Constitution Act, 1867'', one of any individuals appointed by the Governor General of Canada, with the Canadian monarch's consent, to act in his or her stead, e ...
together with the other justices of the Supreme Court. When Governor General
Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson (; ; born February 10, 1939) is a British Hong Kong, Hong Kong-born Canadian journalist who served from 1999 to 2005 as Governor General of Canada, the List of Governors General of Canada#Governors General of Canada, 1 ...
was hospitalized for a cardiac pacemaker
350px, Image showing the cardiac pacemaker or SA node, the primary pacemaker within the electrical_conduction_system_of_the_heart">SA_node,_the_primary_pacemaker_within_the_electrical_conduction_system_of_the_heart.
The_muscle_contraction.htm ...
operation on July 8, 2005, McLachlin performed the duties of the governor general as the administrator of Canada. In her role as administrator, she gave royal assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
to the ''Civil Marriage Act
The ''Civil Marriage Act'' is a federal statute legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time it became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian jurisdictions except Alberta, Prince Edward ...
'' which legalized same-sex marriage nationally in Canada. She relinquished that task when the governor general returned to good health in late July.
While she was Chief Justice, McLachlin chaired the Canadian Judicial Council
The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC; french: Conseil canadien de la magistrature) is the national council of the judiciary of Canada, overseeing the country's federal judges.
The Council has 41 members, composed of chief justices and associate chi ...
. She is also on the board of governors of the National Judicial Institute and on the advisory council of the Order of Canada
The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit.
To coincide with the ...
. She is a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The 's Privy Council for Canada (french: Conseil privé du Roi pour le Canada),) during the reign of a queen. sometimes called Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council (PC), is the full group of personal consultants to the ...
. McLachlin was made a commander of the Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...
by the government of France in 2008. On December 15, 2006, she was appointed a commander of the Venerable Order of Saint John
The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British royal order of ...
.
In July 2013, during the consultation period prior to appointment for Marc Nadon
Marc Nadon LL.L. (born September 7, 1949) is a supernumerary judge on the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal. He has practised law in both Quebec and the United Kingdom, focusing on maritime and transportation law. He was also an arbitrator and fo ...
, Chief Justice McLachlin contacted justice minister Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007â ...
and the Prime Minister's Office regarding the eligibility of Marc Nadon
Marc Nadon LL.L. (born September 7, 1949) is a supernumerary judge on the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal. He has practised law in both Quebec and the United Kingdom, focusing on maritime and transportation law. He was also an arbitrator and fo ...
for a Quebec seat on the Supreme Court. Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
stated that he had refused a phone call from McLachlin on the attorney general's advice. Harper's comments were criticized by the legal community and a complaint was forwarded to the International Commission of Jurists
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...
in Switzerland. The International Commission of Jurists
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...
concluded that Beverly McLachlin deserved an apology from Harper, but none had been given as of July 2014.
In May 2015, McLachlin was invited to speak at the Global Centre for Pluralism
The Global Centre for Pluralism (french: Centre mondial du pluralisme) is an international centre for research, education and exchange about the values, practices and policies that underpin pluralist societies. Based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, th ...
, and said that Canada attempted to commit "cultural genocide
Cultural genocide or cultural cleansing is a concept which was proposed by lawyer Raphael Lemkin in 1944 as a component of genocide. Though the precise definition of ''cultural genocide'' remains contested, the Armenian Genocide Museum defines ...
" against aboriginal peoples in what she called the worst stain on Canada's human-rights record. University of Regina academic Ken Coates
Kenneth Sidney Coates (16 September 1930 – 27 June 2010) was a British politician and writer. He chaired the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation and edited ''The Spokesman'', the BRPF magazine launched in March 1970. He was a Labour Party Mem ...
supported McLachlin, and said that she was "only stating what is clearly in the minds of judges, lawyers and aboriginal people across the country". Others were less sympathetic. Columnist Lysiane Gagnon called the comments "unacceptable" and "highly inflammatory" and suggested that McLachlin had opened herself up to accusations of prejudice. Gordon Gibson
Gordon Fullerton Gibson, (born 1937) is a political columnist, author, and politician in British Columbia (BC), Canada. He is the son of the late Gordon Gibson, who was a prominent businessman and Liberal Party politician in British Columbia i ...
, another columnist, said the use of the word "genocide" was incendiary and disproportionate and that the Chief Justice's comments made her sound like a legislator.
McLachlin retired from the Supreme Court on December 15, 2017, nine months before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. Her successor as Chief Justice of Canada is Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
, who was nominated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
in 2017. Her successor as a justice of the court is Sheilah Martin
Sheilah L. Martin is a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, having served in that role since December 18, 2017. She was nominated to the court by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on November 29, 2017. Before her appointment to Canada's h ...
, who was nominated by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau through a new process for judicial appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada that permitted, "any Canadian lawyer or judge who fits a specified criteria" to apply.
Hong Kong
McLachlin was nominated in March 2018 to become a non-permanent member of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. The court appoints foreign judges from common-law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
jurisdictions outside of Hong Kong, of which McLachlin is the first Canadian, to sit as non-permanent members of the court. Her three-year appointment was approved by the Hong Kong Legislative Council
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong' ...
, and the chief executive gazetted the appointment effective July 30, 2018. McLachlin's appointment was accompanied by those of Brenda Hale, also as non-permanent judge, and Andrew Cheung
Andrew Cheung Kui-nung (; born 24 September 1961) is a Hong Kong judge who serves as the 3rd Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. He previously served as a Permanent Judge of the same court. He was the 4th and longest-serving Chief J ...
, as permanent judge, at the court. She was reappointed to the court in 2021 for a second three-year term.[ Her service on the court has been criticized amidst the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests and imposition of the National Security Law, which is seen by Western observers as threatening civil liberties in the city. As a Court of Final Appeal judge, McLachlin would be required to uphold the law in appellate judgements.][ A motion at the ]Law Society of Ontario
The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...
to condemn her appointment was defeated 28–17 in February 2021.[ In June 2022, she announced her decision to remain on the court which she believes to still be independent.
]
Judicial philosophy
McLachlin has defined the judicial function as one that requires ''conscious objectivity'', which she has described as follows:
McLachlin has argued that courts may be justified in changing the law where such a change would accord with changes in society's values. She regards ''Edwards v Canada (Attorney General)'', in which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies, the British Overseas Territories, some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 Augus ...
found that women were entitled to sit in the Senate of Canada
The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The Senate is modelled after the B ...
, as a paradigm case in Canadian law. She has stated "courts are the ultimate guardians of the rights of society, in our system of government." She has also stated, "I think the court belongs to the Canadian people and it should reflect the Canadian people."
McLachlin has defended the view that "legal certainty"—the notion that there is one correct answer to a legal question, which judges can discover with diligence—is a "myth".
Mahmud Jamal
Mahmud Jamal (born 1967) is a Canadian jurist serving as a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada since 2021. Jamal worked as a partner at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt and taught law at McGill University and Osgoode Hall Law School before he ...
, now a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, has argued that McLachlin's jurisprudence on the law of federalism
Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (Province, provincial, State (sub-national), state, Canton (administrative division), can ...
is consistent with her "self-described judicial philosophy", namely that judges are to be "scrupulously non-partisan and impartial".
Writing
In 2018, McLachlin published a legal thriller
The legal thriller genre is a type of crime fiction genre that focuses on the proceedings of the investigation, with particular reference to the impacts on courtroom proceedings and the lives of characters.
The courtroom proceedings and legal a ...
novel titled ''Full Disclosure''. Her memoir ''Truth Be Told: My Journey Through Life and the Law'', was published in 2019. It won the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writer ...
in 2020.
Honours and awards
McLachlin is the honorary patron of the Institute of Parliamentary and Political Law. From 2016 to 2020, she was a college visitor at Massey College
Massey College is a graduate residential college at the University of Toronto that was established, built and partially endowed in 1962 by the Massey Foundation and officially opened in 1963, though women were not admitted until 1974. It was mo ...
. In 2017, she was elected Visitor of Queens' College, Cambridge. She has been awarded with over 31 honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
s from various universities, which include:
* Order of Saint John – Commander
Memberships and fellowships
See also
* List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (McLachlin Court)
This is a chronological list of notable cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada from the appointment of Beverley McLachlin as Chief Justice of Canada to her retirement in 2017.
2000–2004
2005–2009
2010–2017
See also
* Li ...
Selected publications
Books
*
*
*
*
Articles
*
*
*
*
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLachlin, Beverley
1943 births
Living people
20th-century Canadian judges
20th-century women judges
21st-century Canadian judges
21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers
21st-century Canadian novelists
21st-century Canadian women writers
21st-century women judges
Canadian legal scholars
Canadian legal writers
Canadian memoirists
Canadian people of German descent
Canadian thriller writers
Canadian women judges
Canadian women lawyers
Canadian women memoirists
Canadian women novelists
Chief justices of Canada
Commanders of the Order of St John
Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur
Companions of the Order of Canada
Constitutional court women judges
Judges in British Columbia
Justices of the Court of Final Appeal (Hong Kong)
Hong Kong judges
Lawyers in British Columbia
People from the Municipal District of Pincher Creek No. 9
University of Alberta alumni
University of Alberta Faculty of Law alumni
University of British Columbia faculty
Women chief justices
Women legal scholars